Etching apparatus



C. R. HENDRICKS. ETCHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED "AR. 8. 1919.

1,339,457. Patented y 11,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- 1 @aw/a yaw, g h

' ATTORNEY C. R. HENDRICKS.

ETCHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. a. 1919.

3 S -SHEE ATTORNEY C. R. HENDRICKS.

ETCHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 8, 19H?- 1,33-9,457. v Patented May 11, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Mummy 3 1?? em Q3 "5? M. in

1 /A F w y- QA/IMJ anvmm CARL It. HENDRICKS, 0F JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

mourns APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1920.

Application filed March 8, 1919. Serial No. 281,508.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CARL R. HENDRICKS, a citizen of the United States, and residing at 21 Gray street, Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Etching Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to apparatus of the class used in the arts for etching purposes,

and the object thereof is to provide an apparatus of this class which is simple in construction, efiicient and practical in use, and comparatively inexpensive, and by means of which the process of etching may be more successfully and efficiently performed than has heretofore been possible, and whereby the etching liquid or solution is manipulated so as to bring it in contact with the surface to be etched in'a novel and highly practical way, and the best possible results produced; and with this and other objects in view the invention consists in an apparatus of the class specified, constructed and operating as hereinafter described and the novel features of which are set out in the appended claims. 1

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and inwhich Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved etching apparatusor machine;

Fig. 2 a partial longitudinal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and,

Fig. 3 a transverse section on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

In carrying my invention 1nto effect, I provide a main frame a in or on one end portion of which is mounted an electric or other motor 6, and for the purpose of this description the end portion of the apparatus in or on which the motor I) is mounted will be called the front end and the opposite end the rear end of said apparatus.

In the central and rear end portion of the frame and, in the construction shown, forming part thereof, is a tank 0 in which the etching liquid or composition (Z is placed, and at the sides of the tank 0, are standards a connected at the top by horizontal bars a on the bottoms of which are track members or, and at the opposite sides of the tank and at the top thereof are corresponding track members a and between the track members a*a at each side of the apparatus are mounted carriages 6 provided at their front and back ends with grooved wheels 6 both above and below the carriages e, and said grooved wheels operate in connection with the track members a and a as clearly shown.

I also provide a liquid stirring, agitating or manipulating device f which operates in the bottom of the tank 0 and which comprises a framework consisting of parallel side bars f connected by transverse bars or vanes f which forms a framework open at the top and bottom. Connected with the parallel side bars 7 are central standards f which are connected with the carriages e as shown at f and with the tops of which are rotatably connected as shown at 7" connecting rods 7".

The motor I) is provided with a shaft 5 having a worm gear 6 which meshes with a gear I) mounted on a shaft 6 arranged transversely of the apparatus and mounted in the bearings 6 and the ends of which are provided with disks 5 with which the rods 7 are connected as shown at b Supported in the opposite sides of the tank 0 are angle bars 9 which serve as a support for the plate h to be etched and, in practice, the tank 0 is filled with the etching liquid d up to a predetermined point below the supports 9 and the bottom of the plate h to be etched when placed on said supports, and this etching liquid also preferably entirely covers the liquid stirring, agitating or manipulating device or framework comprising the side bars 7 and the transverse bars or vanes f and from the foregoing description it will be seen that, as a matter of fact, the liquid stirring, agitating or manipulating device involves in its construction the frame consisting of the side bars 7, the transverse bars or vanes F, the standards f and the carriages e, and as such is manipulated or operated by the connecting rods 7".

The bottom of the tank 0 is provided with a drainage discharge i for the purpose of draining said tank when desirable or necessary, and this discharge may be closed by a plug i or in any other way, and in view of the foregoing description the operation of the apparatus will be understood from the following statement thereof. At the beginning of said operation the etching liquid or composition is placed in. the tank 0, after which the plate h to be etched is placed in position, after which the motor Z) starts and by reason of the construction shown and described the stirring, agitating or manipulating device will be moved forwardly and backwardly in the tank 0, and in this operation the etching liquid or composition, or the most thereof, will be moved bodily, longitudinally of the tank, and if the first move ment of the stirring, agitating or manipulating device is forward the surface of said liquid or composition will be raised in the front end portion of the tank and will come in contact with the bottom of the plate It and as the stirring device moves backwardly, the liquid will flow backwardly and will gradually rise in the rear end portion of thetank until it comes in contact with the bottom 7 surface of the plate h, and as this operation is repeated, the etching liquid orcomposition will be first raised in one end portion of the tank and then in the other end portion thereof, and as the body of liquid moves from one end portion of the tank to the other, the top surface thereof will flow along the bottom surface of the plate h in opposite direction for half or more of the length of said plate, and in this Way there will be a complete distribution of the etching liquid or composition over the entire bottom surface oftheplate, .as will be readily understood, and in this manner the process of etching will be carried out in a practical and efficient manner.

In the above operation of manipulating the stirring device forwardly and backwardly in the tank the etching liquid will pass upwardly and downwardly through the stirring device, or between the transverse bars or vanes thereof as will be apparent on a consideration of Fig. 2 of the drawing.

The transverse bars or'vanes being parallel, equally spaced from each other and of like cross section it is apparent that as it is moved backward and forward in the tank equal waves of liquid will be compelled to wash against the plate to be etched and that therefore the plate will be evenly etched over its entire exposed lower surface. The flow of theliquid is greatly facilitated by rounding the upper edges of the transverse bars or vanes.

Itis also of the utmost importance that the transverse bars or vanes be maintained at all times during their forward and backward movement in the tank so that their upper rounded edges will be at all points equidistant from the surface of the plate which is being etched so that each portion of the plate will be equally subjected to the action of the liquid in thevtank and this is accurately accomplished by the carriages and tracks which prevent any tilting of the agitator during its forward and backward movement. It is also essential that the agitator move easily and smoothly and without any jerky movement.

By connecting the agitator prop'er with the carriages e, as shown and described,- and operating or manipulating said agitator through said carriages, the said agitator is suspended freely in the tank and independent thereof, and is given a'regular movement forward and backward *without any interruption or jolting or jarring, and

by reason of this fact the liquid in the tank is also given a continuous uninterrupted flow backwardly and forwardly, as herein described, without any sloppy, irregular or interrupted movement, and this constitutes one of the most effective features of my improvement.

My invention is not limited to the particular details of construction herein'shown and described nor to the dimensions thereof, and especially to any particular dimensions of the tank 0, nor to the method of- '90 size and the dimensions of said plate, and various changes in and modifications of the supporting the plate k, therein, nor to the apparatus as hereinshown and described may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing, its ad vantages.

My invention is also not limited to any;

particular form of motor, nor. to the gearing connected therewith by which the stirring, agitating or manipulating device is operated, nor 1s my invention limlted to the I idea of giving the stirring, agitating, or

manipulating device a continuous forward and backward movement, as herein shown and described and suitable means may be provided, if desired, whereby the forward and backward movement of the stirring,-

when the apparatus is ready for-use, and

that said device be supported above and independent of the bottom of the tank as shown,'by the standards f and carriages 6.

Having fully described my lnvention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An apparatus of the class described comprising in combination a tank, a stirring device mounted to reciprocate longitudinally in said tank, said stirring devicecomprising an open frame work'composed of side bars and a plurality of transverse bars or vanes of like cross section, having rounded top edges and which are equally spaced from each other.

2. An apparatus of the class described comprising in combination a tank, an agitator, a carriage to which the agitator is rigidly secured, wheels mounted above and below and at each end on said carriage and support and guide tracks for said wheels mounted respectively below and above said carriages and constituting means for permitting and accurately controlling the reciprocating movement the tank.

3. An apparatus of the class described comprising in combination a tank, a stirring device mounted to reciprocate longiof the agitator in tudinally in the tank, carriages rigidly connected to and adapted to support said stirring device, wheels mounted on said carriages above and below said carriages and at each end thereof and support and guide tracks mounted respectively below and above said carriages and along which said wheels roll and which constitute means for permitting and accurately controlling the reciprocating movement of the agitator in the tank.

Signed at New York city, in the county and State of New York, this 7th day of March, 1919.

CARL R. HENDRICKS. Witnesses:

MARGARET A. HuoK, PAUL R. JAMES. 

